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Game Watch - E3 2015: Who Won?

Who Won E3? It's a pretty big question, and won that doesn't really have a TRUE answer. No definitive "Yes, you're right!" or "No - sorry - that's wrong." But everyone has their own take on it. Mine is, as always, somewhat convoluted.

Honestly I think there are several winners. Microsoft won the biggest new thing award. No matter how it turns out (which I purposefully won't be discussing here, despite articles recently written on major gaming publications) backwards compatibility is massive. Being able to play Xbox 360 games (even if they're just selected ones) on the Xbox One is a huge deal, as is the ability to use Fallout 4 PC mods on the Xbone (although that was never confirmed as exclusive).

Saying that, I think Sony won for best games and fan-service. The FFVII remake will do brilliantly, and I should think will also act as a starting point for many people in the series. Undoubtedly The Last Guardian, which was in danger of becoming a name without anything behind it, being announced is something that the whole industry can get behind in some way. To be perfectly honest with you, I have no idea what that game is, but I sure as hell can't wait to play it!

Coming out of E3, my most hyped game was also at the Sony conference. Horizon: Zero Dawn looks incredible. I'll be talking more about that in a post on Friday 26th June (tomorrow at time of publishing) and why I think it looks so great.

Obviously Uncharted 4 looks awesome, but I've never played any Uncharted game; that means that before that my most hyped Uncharted game is actually The Uncharted Collection, which is coming later this year.

While Microsoft and Sony won in those respective fields, for me there is one clear winner of E3 2015.

Bethesda.

Sure, pretty much everyone who is at all tuned into video games expected Fallout 4 to be revealed this year, but not in the way Bethesda did it. Coming out and saying "We're here, and we're a major player" was an amazing up-yours to the rest of the industry. Bethesda prove time and time again that quality doesn't have to be sacrificed by a larger publisher, which is something they're becoming now.

But it wasn't just Fallout 4; the Dishonored Definitive Edition, Dishonored 2, Doom, and the Fallout and Elder Scrolls mobile apps represent a very strong showing for any publisher, let alone one that has never done an E3 before.

Saying that, obviously Bethesda did pick 2015 for a reason. It was a perfect storm of announcements, and ways for people to get continually hyped for their games.

But I do think their victory runs deeper still. I'll return to the fact that this was their first conference, yet it was so polished and fun to watch! Contrast that with the boringness from EA, and weirdness from Nintendo - both of whom have been doing E3 a whole lot longer than Bethesda. And both of whom, as a parent might say to a naughty child "Should have known better."

Well - Nintendo, EA and all the other major players: Bethesda did know better. They always have. And this year they proved it.